Photo: Geoff Meggs

On February 20, I wrote about the Dunsmuir Viaduct construction initiative by our “green” Mayor to build a new $300,000 bicycle lane on the Dunsmuir Viaduct that connects East Vancouver to the downtown core.

After the Olympics are finished, the city will remove the barriers keeping traffic from one of three west-bound lanes of the viaduct, and will bring them from the the south lane to the north lane, creating a 2.5-metre wide, two-way bike path.

The barriers were originally put in place to allow for construction of a new Costco on Expo Boulevard right by GM Place, which is now complete.

Councillor Geoff Meggs, who is part of the city’s bicycle advisory committee, says the lane on the viaduct will provide a secure route for cyclists coming into the downtown core from East Vancouver.

There are existing bicycle lanes on Dunsmuir, but they are marked only with paint and bicycle graphics to indicate the designation of cyclists, but have no safety separation from cars.

But some rather confusing information has been released in the local Vancouver media, that the same councillor in support of the $300,000 bicycle lane project, Geoff Meggs, also supports the complete demolition of the Viaduct itself.

Knocking down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts and linking local connector roads in their place could open up hundreds of millions of dollars in future real estate opportunities, the Vision Councillor told Metro News.

In a proposal that was put forth to city council that could be voted on at the earliest by April, Mr.Meggs has asked the city to look at the development possibilities in the connector routes of East Vancouver to the downtown core.

Tearing down the large overhead viaducts, a relic from an ancient transportation network, would certainly make the city more attractive. The first Viaduct was built on Georgia Street from 1913-15, but the narrow structure was poorly built and began falling apart. At one point, overhead street lights were removed to lighten the load on the structure. It was eventually replaced, instead of just torn down, in 1972.

But although the idea might “open up hundreds of millions of dollars” in real estate opportunities, it would essentially cut off a vital connector to the downtown by car and bicycle. Removing the viaduct would require numerous traffic stop installations and slow down the commute in and out of the city which, currently, is a matter of a minutes along the highway-like viaducts.

At the very least it would be interesting to know why Councillor Meggs approves of spending $300,000 on upgrades to the Viaduct, whilst simultaneously considering tearing it down altogether. Not exactly a good return for taxpayer investment.